“So, are we just getting down to it, or do you want to discuss the weather first?” I say to him, trying to use
sarcasm to hide my growing nerves.
“Look, nothing is sorted here and we all have reservations about how to proceed now. Why don’t we get everything that is bothering us out in the open and work through the issues at hand?” Damien says. His willingness to lead is something I admire about him. It’s not even a choice for him anymore, it’s a way of life. I don’t think he even realises he is doing it.
“I can’t fade into a shadow again, Damien. It’s not what I want, or need. I have to feel like I am a part of this family and not just a burden.” He said to lay it out on the line. I don’t see the point in dragging it out with small talk.
“No, and your right there, Alek. I have made you feel like a second class citizen at times, but your ego and your addiction didn’t help matters, did they?”
I don’t have a comeback to that. He is right. Although I don’t like what he says, I accept it.
“I have given you the reasons, Damien. If you can’t move past them then we are already hitting the rough with these negotiations, aren’t we?” I ask, knowing that I’m just waving a red flag in front of a bull.
“Yes, you did give me your bitch arse excuses, but I still can’t forgive you for putting my family at risk just so you could get a fucking fix. How in the hell do I know that if we do this together, when things get tough and don’t go your way, that you will just claim ‘I’m depressed’ and start gambling again? Like I told you three weeks ago, I won’t let you hurt anyone with it again.” His words are starting to fucking grate on me now.
“You know what, Damien, change the fucking tune. You’re like a stuck record, a dog with a bone. I have apologised until I’m blue in the face, but it’s not enough, is it? What is this really about? Because your made up bullshit is starting to piss me off.” He can spit his fucking dummy out; I am passed caring.
“You want to know what this is really about, do you? Fine! I will tell you. Before I found out that you existed, my life was ok. Then you came strolling on the scene with your stupid arse daddy issues. When will you get it through your thick skull that he wasn’t a man to aspire to? HE sold his daughter for fuck sake. His actions got our sister killed. You had this air about you that reminded me of her. Yet you’re nothing like the beautiful spirit she was and it pissed me off that someone like you could come from our stock. Just man up and do what you were born to do. You have to lead, just like me. It’s your fucking birthright. You want to make people proud and respect you? Then go out and earn it. When the road gets a little tough, don’t take the cop out. Fucking fight! I know you have it in you, you proved that last night.”
You know the phrase ‘I wasn’t expecting that’, well this is one of those moments. How can I answer that? I never knew my half-sister. I wish I could have had the chance to meet her, but it wasn’t to be. She sounded like someone that I would have loved wholeheartedly and protected until my dying breath.
“How can I do that when you have never given me a chance to show you who I am? You kicked me out in the cold, Damien. I had to drag myself out of it without anything from you, and I did that last night. I showed you all that I’m not some pushover anymore, that I want a life worth living.”
This time three weeks ago I would have punched him by now, and Malc would be the one telling me to go whilst he held Damien at bay. But not now. I’m ready to stay and fight, I’m just not sure if that’s what he wants. If we do get through this, then we could be unstoppable. We would have bases here and in Russia.
“Look what happened when I did push, though. You hit rock bottom and came up fucking punching. That’s what we need. We need the part of you that won’t put your family at risk. I may not have been there for you over the past few months, but I did what I needed to do to get you to the man I know you can be. The one I have only seen glimpses of. You are different since meeting Emma. You’re stronger than you think, Alek, you just have to realise it yourself.” I’m not sure if I want to punch him or hug him.
“Can we work through this or not, Damien? Are you going to give me a chance to prove that I have changed?” I ask him. He looks to Malc and he just nods at him.
“Yes we can work this through, but I need your word, Alekzander.”
“You have it. I have too much to lose by fucking this up gambling again.”
“We are going to have to come up with a new structure to accommodate for Jonny’s old crew and patch. What do you both think we should do?” I look to Malc and shrug. Fuck if I know.
“We need to sort out Jonny’s crew ASAP. Alek, you should do that as it’s your kill,” Malc states.
Wow! I never thought I would live to see the day that Malc would say I need to do it.
“Yeah, you’re right. Alek, go and round up the new crew and give them the lowdown, then come back here later on with a total number of people he has so we can get them all checked out by Anton,” Damien says to me. I know he is giving out orders again, but he knows about all of this, whereas I don’t, yet.
“Yeah, ok. I will leave now. You want me to take Vlad?” I ask. I need to talk to Vlad, to tell him the plan has changed but that finding his girl is top priority. I just hope he understands.
“Yeah, take him just to be on the safe side. Alek? I’m glad that we are going to try. I know I can’t blame you for his mistakes anymore.”
“Thanks. All I ever wanted was to feel like I belonged here.”
I leave with that last comment. I know that he means what he says. Damien is not a man to mince his words.
I see Vlad in the kitchen chatting with the girls. He is a good man. He has a lot on his plate at the moment and his daughter means everything to him. But he is a fighter and, in the end, will come out of this much stronger than when it all started. I just hope it’s the result he wants.
“You ready to head out, man?” I shout to Vlad from the hallway.
“Yeah, I’m coming now. Where are we heading?” he replies.
“We are in charge of rounding up the new crew.” He nods but looks a little puzzled.
We are on our way to Jonny’s old place. God knows what we will find when we get there.
We arrive at the address where the crew hang out. The house doesn’t look much from the outside, but I for one know that appearances can be deceptive. By the look of it, the huge house used to be a pub of some sort. The red brickwork and dark slate roof stand out a mile in this rundown part of town. It’s the only place that hasn’t got windows boarded up. I can hear the steady thrum of music coming from inside.
We park the car and get out. I told Vlad the score during the ride over. I told him that finding Anna was top priority.
We raise our guns; we don’t know what we will find when we step inside this door. The blast of heat and sound reach us a soon as we enter. Bodies are passed out everywhere; males, females, mostly all of them are naked.
I signal to Vlad to go and check upstairs whilst I finish down here. Everyone is sleeping, so I make my way up the stairs knowing that Vlad might need a hand. I walk along the lengthy hallway, checking each room I pass. Bodies are strewn everywhere; this looks like one hell of a celebration.
I come to the last room and find the door closed. I gently push it open and see Vlad cradling someone on the floor. She is whimpering.
I rush into the room and see only one other body in here. I stop when I see who — the first goon that jumped me three weeks ago. That little fucker is mine when I get my hands on him.
“Vlad, what happened?” I beg, but don’t get any response from him. “Vlad what’s going on?” I try again, raising my voice a little this time.
Still nothing. I walk slowly over to him and look down. The woman is lying in a pool of her own blood. I can see that she isn’t going to make it; her complexion is fading, the skin is greying, every inch of her is covered in cuts and bruises. He cradles her tighter. I place my hand on his shoulder an
d his head whips around to me. The feral look in his eyes screams get off me, but I continue to keep my hand on his shoulder.
“Vlad, what happened? You need to talk to me,” I demand in a hushed tone. How can I help fix it if he won’t talk to me?
The rocking motion of him with her in his arms is loving and caring. I look at the woman again and I can’t make out too much as her eyes have now closed. I wonder if it’s one of the girls from the yacht that didn’t manage to get away with the others.
“This is my wife Anna,” is all he chokes out.
FUCK!
Chapter Twenty-One
Vlad
I never thought I would see her again. To have her in my arms is heaven, but it’s now going to be a living hell. I will be the last thing she sees as her light fades from this world.
I walked into the room and saw what was happening; he was on top of her, his cock in her pussy and she was screaming for him to stop. The second I heard her I knew it was Anna. I saw red. I thought I would get there in time. She looked across at me as I shouted for him to stop. He just looked at me and plunged the knife deeper into her stomach, her very large stomach.
I’m sorry, she mouthed as he pulled the knife out. I felt like I couldn’t move, like time made me watch the demise of my wife. As soon as I could, I moved to him and knocked him out cold. I picked Anna up and cradled her to my chest, her blood seeping all over me, but I didn’t care. I needed to have her in my arms just once more.
I heard Alek enter the room, but I was more focused on telling Anna how much I loved her. Telling her everything I could about Daria before it was too late. His hand on my shoulder had me turning to him, begging him to just understand. He did, thank god.
He asks me again what is going on so I tell him it is my wife.
“Tell Daria I never stopped loving her. Vlad, I never stopped loving you,” she says on a gurgled breath. I watch as her chest rises one last time and her eyes finally close.
“I want them to burn for this, Alek. I don’t want any of the fuckers left alive. They did this to her, to me, to Daria. They have to pay.” I beg him to understand.
That fucker over there is getting it first. I gently lay Anna down on the floor. Standing up, I walk over to the guy that just had his cock in my wife and his knife in her stomach. I grab him up off the floor, sit him in the chair and bind him.
At this point I don’t care if he wakes up or not. I start to slash at his skin with the same knife he just used on Anna. As I am taking chunks out of him, he starts to stir as I cut his face. Good, I want him to see what I’m about to do.
“Alek, go and find me a hammer and nails from somewhere in this shit hole,” I command. He leaves instantly to look.
I look to the guy in front of me; his eyes are opening. His murmurs of pain can be heard as his body registers what’s happening to him.
“You think you will be forgiven after what you have just done? That was my wife you just raped and killed,” I say to the piece of shit before me.
“She was carrying his baby, man. It needed finishing. No more bad blood. That’s what the new leader wanted.”
I step back to take that in. She was pregnant with Jonny’s baby. It should have been me that got her pregnant and gave her a child. Our child.
“That wasn’t your choice to make. That was my woman and you took her from me.” I’m so distraught I keep punching him in the face over and over again.
I hear the footfalls coming back into the room and see Alek carrying what I need.
“Thanks, Alek. Now go, you might not want to watch this,” I say to him.
“I’m not leaving you here on your own to deal with this. What do you want me to do, Vlad?” he says to me.
“Help me get him sat on the floor with his legs open and his pants off.” I hold back the smallest of smiles at his confused look. He doesn’t say anything, just helps me proceed to get this cunt where I want him.
I pick up the hammer and nails from the chair where Alek placed them. Walking back over to where we have him on the floor, I crouch between his open legs. I’m not going to finish this guy quickly. I’m going to make him suffer.
The nail in my hand feels cold to the touch. The rubber grip of the hammer slips in my skin so I grip it even harder. Pinching the nail, I place the tip into his flaccid penis, bringing the hammer down hard. The strike of the hammer and his ear splitting scream tell me I’ve hit my mark. I look up at Alekzander and see him wince at my actions. I don’t care. I position another nail and strike again. His distressed howls are like music to my ears. I feel a sense of satisfaction at the justice I’m giving out. The blood starts to ooze from his cock. It’s pooling between his legs.
I finish with a line down his cock, three nails in total.
“You have two choices now: you can either stay here and burn to death, slowly and painfully, smelling your flesh as it melts from your bones and burns you from the outside in. Or, you can choose to run, but the only way you are getting out is by ripping your own cock off in the process,” I say to him with a triumphant smile on my face.
“Let’s get out of here,” I hear Alek call from the doorway.
I move over to Anna’s lifeless body. Scooping her up in my arms, I carry her out towards the car. My suit is covered in blood, hers mainly.
“You got the burning of the house covered, Alek?” I ask him.
“I’ve got your back. You get in the car with Anna. I’m gonna make this house light up like a fucking bonfire.”
In this moment, I have never been more grateful to have someone here with me. I’ve never been one for friendship, but right now I wouldn’t choose a better friend.
“Thank you,” I say as I walk over the bodies that are still on the floor, not caring if the lot of them burn in hell.
Pausing at the back door of the Range Rover, I try to stop the tears that are falling. I had her in my arms again even if it was brief. I will cherish that moment until the day I die.
Now I have to tell Daria. I lift Anna into the Range Rover, not letting my arms leave her for a second.
Alek walks out as the flames start to build. Smoke escapes from the windows, flames lick at the door, blocking the way for an easy escape.
He opens the door and just nods at me through the rear-view mirror as he starts the drive back to Damien’s.
*****
Alekzander
They say that watching a man at his breaking point can really touch you. It fucking did that, and more. I’m now just pulling up to Damien’s to deliver the bad news that I have just wiped out the rest of Jonny’s crew.
I feel for Vlad having to go through all these years of wondering. Finally having a ray of hope, only to have it taken from him as soon as he found it. That has to be hard on anyone.
I stop the engine and get out, opening the back door for Vlad. Anything to feel like I’m helping him. Closing the door to the car when he gets out with Anna in his arms,
we walk up to the door. It swings open; they must have seen us coming on the cameras.
Malc is stood in the doorway and Damien is just beside him. I walk up to them, shaking my head in despair. “What happened?” Damien asks as I approach them. There is no point fluffing around the edges.
“This is Vlad’s wife. You need to call a doctor and the funeral home.” I hear Malc cursing and Damien mumbling something to himself.
“Look, let’s talk about the details inside, shall we?” They both nod and turn to step inside. Vlad follows, walking into the living room and placing Anna down on the couch. He kneels beside her. As he strokes her hair, tears are streaming down his face. He hasn’t said anything; I think he is just trying to deal with it.
I walk out, closing the door behind me. The girls are in the kitchen.
“Girls, you might want to leave for this,” I say to Emma, Lilly, Faith and Cami. They step out of the kitchen, taking the children with them.
Both Damien and Malc join me in the kitchen.
“We h
ave no crew from Jonny. As you can see, things got a little waylaid,” I say to them as we take seats around the kitchen table.
“What happened? How did we not know Vlad was married?” Damien asks in disbelief.
I tell them exactly what happened, right from the start up until getting out of the car. I don’t miss anything. I tell them she was pregnant with Jonny’s child, that it was one of his goons that killed her, and that Vlad sort of lost it. I can’t explain to them all the bits in-between. All I can tell them is what I know and what I have seen. I tell them about Daria, how she has had to live a life in secret, and that she will need all the support she can get from us right now.
Damien makes the calls, and before we know it the doctor arrives. He is in the living room with Vlad and Anna. The doctor walks out a short time later with a glum look on his face. The funeral directors are here and are about to take her body away.
All of us are stood in the hallway, watching as they wheel her out. Vlad follows them outside and watches as her body is placed inside the van. As they pull away, I hear his scream of pure and utter heartbreak. I observe from the doorway as he drops to his knees on the driveway. Not thinking, I go to Vlad. I kneel down in front of him and I hold him, allowing him to find his release.
*****
Later that night we are in Emma’s bedroom. Everything that has happened today has brought this family into turmoil.
It’s times like this when we have to pull together, not further apart.
“So what’s going to happen now, Alek?” Emma’s voice is full of concern. She has been quiet ever since we got back and I told her what happened. She wept. She wept for loss, she wept for Daria, but most of all I think she wept for her friend. As much as I like Vlad, he and Emma are very close. They have a bond that gets stronger with each passing day.
Most men would hate that their girl is so close to another man. I know that it is nothing romantic. Sibling love, that’s what it is, not the tainted kind that is born out of hate, but the pure kind born from protection.
Redemption (The Volkov Mafia Series Book 4) Page 16
